Essendon

Barely anything could be worse than Essendon's annus horribilis of 2013 but then, things are hardly going to turn around overnight either. Try as supporters might to present a united front, there is no doubting the destabilisation caused by the supplements saga. For the first half of the season they defied all odds and prevailing logic to ride high with 13 wins from their first 16 games. As the final stages of the league's investigation rolled on, the weight of the scandal seemed to sink the season for the players. In the end, their sustained, captivating efforts were in vain anyway.

Every public utterance from the club indicates that Hird will return as coach at the end of 2014, but even if that is the case, what happens before then will be fascinating. It's likely a senior assistant will fill the breach, but what he's able to extract out of the players is hard to tell. With key draft picks now stripped, the Bombers will have to be resourceful, patient and possibly improvise to avoid hitting a brick wall. That's before even considering the potential fallout from Asada's ongoing investigation into the current playing list. Again, theirs will be amongst the most heavily scrutinised flight paths of 2014.

North Melbourne

What can you say about a club that finishes 10th at the end of the home and away season but still manages to have four, yes four, players selected in the 40-man All-Australian squad? That they were unlucky? That they're on the rise? Or that they've completely underachieved? North Melbourne in 2013 were a fan and tipsters' nightmare. They should have made the finals and didn't; there's no way around that. The loss of Andrew Swallow to a season-ending achilles injury in late July hardly helped either. If those All-Australian selections say something damning about the Roos, it's that the next tier of future stars at the club simply didn't stand up on a consistent basis. Boomer Harvey returns next year, but the young brigade can ill-afford a continued reliance on a player of his vintage.

So where will that development come from next year and beyond? Aaron Black is genuinely exciting to watch up forward and Aaron Mullett has baulked nominative determinism, using his run and raking left boot to pick up a Rising Star nod. Putting aside the Taylor Walker/Ivan Maric madness, he looks capable of becoming the most famous Mullet in the AFL since Greg Anderson. This week we've had it hammered into us that the Roos are unlucky not to be taking part in September action, but that is also damning them with faint praise. A big step up is required in 2014, otherwise those claims don't carry much weight.

Adelaide

It hasn't been a hell of a lot of fun being an Adelaide supporter of late. Losing key position players of the caliber of Nathan Bock and Phil Davis in past seasons would have been a stretch for any club, but to be put through the Kurt Tippett saga must have genuinely tested their loyalty. His departure added to the on-field duress on Taylor Walker this year and the affable forward promptly collapsed into a crumpled heap in Round 5, thus effectively ending the Crows chances in 2013. To be knocked out of the finals race by Port's Round 23 loss to Carlton was the icing on a spectacularly crappy cake.

The positives were less worthy of screaming headlines but went a small way to healing those deflated spirits. Four Rising Star nominations was a bumper result for the recruiting staff. The pick-up of Tom Lynch in return for pick 37 at the beginning of 2012 can now be considered a success and has had a lot of St Kilda fans wondering why Ross Lyon had the red-haired utility chained under the old Moorabbin grandstand for three years. His 10 goals to bury GWS in Round 7 bloated his season tally to 33 in a promising showing. Elsewhere, All-Australian nominees Patrick Dangerfield and Richard Douglas were solid and occasionally spectacular, but the main hope comes from the seven players with under 25 games to their names that figured in the final round drubbing of West Coast.

Brisbane Lions

Not for the first time in recent years Brisbane's season shaped as a potential new beginning. Eventually it proved to be the end of the line for Lions coach Michael Voss, who gracefully exited stage left with a 39% winning record and only a single top eight finish to his name. That his departure was prompted by a failed bid to secure the services of Paul Roos has, with hindsight, resulted in more blushes for the Lions administration than for Voss himself. The missteps at board level unfortunately mirrored the instability of on-field performances in another frustrating year from a playing list not short on talent. A valiant one point loss to Geelong in the final round was a microcosm of their dueling virtues and limitations.

The Lions have rewarded Pearce Hanley's sublime talents with a five-year contract that should go a long way to staving off homesickness for his native Ireland, but they'll expect a lot in return. He was probably unlucky to miss All-Australian nomination this year, as was rising on-baller Tom Rockliff, but the fact that no other Lions featured in that list is a fair indication of their lack of star power. For Jonathan Brown to be their leading goal scorer was not totally unexpected, that he did so with a tally of 28 is just plain depressing. They'll need to find a lot more of them from different avenues if they're to be more than a fringe presence next year.

West Coast Eagles

Hands up if West Coast were in your projected top four for 2013. Didn't quite work out so well, did it? The gradually evolving, six-month-long pained expression of exhaustion on John Worsfold's face was a weekly and enduring visual representation of the Eagles' woes this year. Darren Glass and Eric McKenzie provided stout defence and another productive campaign from Josh Kennedy was among the rare highlights in a woefully off-course mission. Their 13th place finish has given rise to reflections, both internally and externally, that many Eagles simply didn't perform to AFL standard this season. Like Worsfold, many find themselves fighting for their careers.

In 2014, Andrew Embley, Daniel Kerr and most likely Adam Selwood will be gone. With the departure of the latter several Melbourne-based clubs will no doubt make a play for his younger brother Scott, whose weakened ties out west could possibly see him move home to Victoria. A host of established players will need to step up a notch next year, not least Nic Natanui, Luke Shuey and Jack Darling. All three stalled this year through a combination of injury and waning form. That emerging core of senior players need to lighten the burden on Worsfold by performing to expectations next year because the natives will be restless if there's a repeat performance of this monumental let-down.

Gold Coast Suns

There were more than a few early-season question marks over the direction in which Guy McKenna's youngsters were heading, but a solid campaign gave indications that the kids are indeed alright. Wins against St Kilda, GWS, Melbourne and the Bulldogs were expected, but triumphs over North Melbourne and Collingwood were some of the more thrilling moments of 2013, giving us the sense that potential was being turned into the foundations of a contender. Ablett was as supreme as ever, averaging 31 possessions and over a goal per game, but he no longer carries the kids on his back.

Dion Prestia survived being called a "human meatball" by Brian Taylor on the 509 corresponding occasions he gathered a possession in 2013, while Jaeger O'Meara's Rising Star-winning season gave us reason to ponder the kind of midfield supergroup he'll form with his captain and the freakishly gifted Harley Bennell over the coming years. All three can kick a goal or two, but the Suns are going to have to find some targets up forward in 2014 if they're to challenge for a finals spot. With another season under their belt the young Suns are building steadily but surely.

Western Bulldogs

The Western Bulldogs ended the season in good form. Photograph: Joe Castro/AAP Image

If it's possible to be buoyant and upbeat about a 15th place finish then that is exactly how Doggies supporters should be feeling right now. For much of the first half of the season a sense of restlessness was understandable; Brendan McCartney's squad had done little to quell the loud doubters of the team's direction. By season's end, you could be excused for wanting to see more and more of the Dogs, who ended up on the late-season's most spirited and spirit-lifting roll. It was an encouraging vindication of McCartney's deadpan faith in the overhaul in process.

Tom Liberatore won the most clearances in the competition and could probably count himself unlucky not to make the All-Australian shortlist, Ryan Griffen kept on being Ryan Griffen and in the closing months of season, the Bulldogs were handsomely repaid for the significant faith they'd placed in their list. Jarrad Grant went from a possible delisting to almost justifying the first-round draft pick he commanded, Tory Dickson looked comfortable every second he was on an AFL ground and Brett Goodes was a great advertisement for persistence. With Adam Cooney pleasingly returning to his Brownlow-winning form, further development next year will come from Mitch Wallis, Jake Stringer and Jason Tutt, none of whom look anywhere near their ceiling just yet. That's one of many causes for excitement.

St Kilda

If the Saints were going to make headlines this September, it was never going to be as a result of on-field performances. That the inevitable yearly tabloid imbroglio involved a dwarf being set on fire might have initially got a laugh from the league CEO, but it was another tiresome chapter in a constantly-expanding catalogue of lurid indiscretions. For a club heading towards a new dawn, that familiar trope of the scandal-plagued jokers of the competition continues to hover. It was a pyrotechnic end to a season that seemed extinguished before it had really begun.

Scott Watters has a monumental task in front of him to mold an entirely revamped list. He'll be pleased with the natural development of young players given game time in 2013. Nathan Wright and Jack Newnes can seriously play and Tom Lee gave glimpses that suggest he may step out of the shadow of Brendan Goddard, whose departure prompted his arrival. Jack Steven has turned into an elite midfielder and was a justified All-Australian nominee beside the evergreen Nick Riewoldt. Drawing fewer plaudits but just as much respect was the resurgent Leigh Montagna, who picked up the slack when the efforts of the Saints other on-ballers frequently faded. Kosi, the dependable Jason Blake and Milne are now gone and it's how the Saints fare in the next two drafts that will be a key determinant in their quest for a successful reboot.

Melbourne

Who had it worse in 2013: Essendon supporters as their club sunk further into the mire of one of the AFL's worst scandals or their Demons counterparts, whose season began under the cloud of the tanking affair before descending into farce in a football sense? The AFL's annual game of Coaching Hunger Games claimed Mark Neeld as a slightly inevitable victim but in truth, there was little more the poor bloke could have done with the hand he was dealt. A faulty list, crushed spirits and continuing injury crises for his star recruit surely made for more than a few sleepless nights. Hounded to the point of becoming a tragic figure, Neeld now unfortunately finds himself a cautionary tale in the pitfalls of a brutal, unforgiving industry.

Yet out of the ashes of this most dire season there is renewed hope that the Dees are on the verge of landing a big fish and the man they hope will lead them out of misery; a man who could lift them to the heights of, well, not being regularly belted. The appointment of Paul Roos would be a massive coup for Melbourne and a small consolation to their battered and beaten fanbase. There genuinely is a limit to how much your spirits can be lifted by Jeremy Howe's weekly hanger. Even if Roos is at the helm it's going to be a slow road to recovery, but if there's one thing that the oldest club of them all knows, it's that footy is a long haul.

GWS Giants

Greater Western Sydney Giants finished last but can draw positives from a tough season. Photograph: Dave Crosling/AAP Image

It's a bit early to tell what GWS actually have on their hands with such a celebrated group of young prospects, but this was never going to be anything other than a development year for the league newcomers. They could be forgiven for not knowing the words to the team song once they finally got to sing it after their Round 19 win against Melbourne, but there were plenty of pointers to indicate improvement is on the way. Despite being more or less the sole forward target for the Giants, Jeremy Cameron showed class and poise beyond his years to kick 62 goals and pose a serious Coleman Medal threat.

Callan Ward was a stoic and consistent contributor against an often overwhelming tide in the midfield and was ably assisted by Adam Treloar and Toby Greene. Despite his featherweight frame, number one draft pick Lachie Whitfield slipped comfortably into league football in a staggered introduction to senior action. Like a few of his underweight team-mates, he'll be all the better for another pre-season and the fast lessons that come with more and more game time. The key interest now is where Leon Cameron is able to take this embryonic club and how fast he's able to get there. It's probably going to be a slow burn.